Good morning! It's a cold morning in San Francisco, and the wind is picking up sharply. The women's race set off at 7:04 on their two parade laps. Vaughn is on the scene phoning in reports!

Even tho the morning is suprisingly chilly, only Nicole Cookes Italian teammates are wearing arm and leg warmers!

Nicole Cooke and T-Mobile's Dede Barry both have their game faces on today. Both look extremely determined to pull off a victory here today. It should get interesting after a couple laps up Fillmore street!

7:20 - The women are finished with the parade laps and are off on their first turn around the main loop.

7:30 Kristen Armstrong had a mechanical and is working her way back to the peloton now. The reason the race start was delayed by 4 minutes was to allow the local TV coverage to get set up.

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Yesterday Kristen Armstrong said the race would be a team effort, and "Just who leads will depend on who has the strongest legs on Sunday. All our riders are in good form because we've been training for the upcoming race in Italy." In fact she says they will fly out on Sunday night.

7:36 - First lap is done and the field is SHATTERED! Kristen Armstrong took the first prime. T-Mobile is all massed at the front of the race, there's a nine woman break with 18 seconds back to another group and 1:40 back to the remaining chasers. The first group contains Dede Barry also and Nicole Cookes teammate Modesta V. We'll try to get more of the names on the next lap.

Dede Barry said yesterday that she was really, really thrilled to have been picked for the Olympics. "It was a really great experience, I absolutely loved it!" Her parents and her grandfather were all in Athens to see her ride into the Silver Medal! When asked about the race here she said - "T-Mobile International takes strong legs, hard work, perseverence, and a bit of LUCK!" Now we'll see if Dede has the lucky touch today!

7:50 - The race is ON! In the lead group we have all the heads of state! Lyne Bessette, Dede Barry, Christine Thorburn, Nicole Cooke, also Kori Kelley, Kristen Armstrong!

7:52 - Tina Pic has crashed at the base of Fillmore as she was starting up for the second time. Megan Long is leading the first chase group and they have caught the breakaway! There is a T-Mobile rider with a mechanical on Fillmore - Kim Anderson has flatted and is getting a wheel change.

8:05- 45 riders have made the selection. The rest of the field is shattered and strung out in clumps from one to three minutes back. The first rider over Fillmore on this lap was Lyne Bessette, followed by Nicole Cooke and Christine Thorburn. They had a little gap going but Webcor massed to the front and brought them back on the Embarcadero. Kind of strange that Webcor chased it down because their rider (Thorburn) was in that trio, but perhaps they felt it was too soon. Victory Brewing has made the selection, they are in the front group of 45. The women are climbing up through fog on Fillmore and Taylor, and it's still only 58 degrees. We have 3 laps and 32 miles to go. The women are flying, that lap took only 25 minutes.

There's a strong headwind on the flats, talk about no rest for the weary! Dede Barry tried to take a flier as she crossed the line, but was immediately reeled back in.

Also in the lead group for Webcor is Karen Brems - she is a former Olympian (2000) and 1994 World Time Trial Champion!

8:25 - A 10 woman break took off on Fillmore. All the usual suspects were in the break - Bessette, Coooke, Barry, Armstrong, Thornburn, Brems, Neben. But the chasers pulled them back on the descent and by the flats it was gruppo compacto (at least for the 45 women who made the selection - the other remainders the field are still struggling along in ever diminishing numbers) Crossing the line, Manon Jutras took the prime.

Bob Stapleton's gals are doing T-Mobile proud today and the sponsor has to be loving it!

NEWS FLASH!!! When Manon Jutras took the flier to grab the prime at the start/finish line SHE JUST KEPT GOING! Manon Jutras now has opened up a 40 second gap and is on Fillmore! OH CANADA! Quark is on the fly!

8:40 - Quarks Manon Jutras has increased her lead to 50 seconds! 3 laps to go. After this one it's the two shorter laps - The question is - has she pulled a Hincapie? Has she gone too soon?

The song being played on the podium "I WILL SURVIVE"!

8:55 - Jutras still has a lead of 30 seconds with approximately 16 miles to go. She rode a blistering 24 minute lap, is she burning herself out to soften up the field for Bessette?

There is a chase on for Jutras, Nicole Cooke's teammate Modesto V. is leading a 15 women chase group! In the group are Nicole Cooke; plus Kim Bruckner, Dede Barry, and Anderson of T-Mobile, Felicia Greer, Christine Thorburn of Webcor; Sue Palmer-Komar, Kori Kelley, and Laura Van Gilder or Genesis Scuba! And Gina Grain of Victory Brewing! Lyne Bessette of Quark, who also leads in the Queen of the Mountains with 30 points. Nicole Cooke is second for QOM.

9:00 Next up is the BELL LAP! Tina Pic is leading a chase group about 20 seconds back, there's another group of about 20 women chasing at 55 seconds, and 15 more at 1:20. Kristen Armstrong is in Tina Pic's chase group!

This is shaping up to be a fantastic finish! All the big guns are still in contention going into the final lap, and a few suprises as well! Genesis Scuba, T-Mobile, Webcor, and Safi Pasta are all well represented in the lead group. And the overall Pro Cycling Tour leader, Victory Brewing's Gina Grain is having an amazing ride today!

Team Basis has a rider in the lead group as well! Manon Jutras has been caught just before the crest of Fillmore. Looks like Amber Neben is the one who lead the catch!

The Bell lap started with T-Mobile's Dede Barry taking a flier off the front! The 15 women are still leading the race, 30 seconds back to the chase group.

Dede Barry and Kori Kelley have opened up a gap, they lead by 35 seconds. THe chase group is being led by Bessette. They are approaching Taylor street, passing a cable car.

9:20 - Barry and Kelly are caught at the base of Taylor! Cooke is out of the saddle and pushing hard. Bessette is the only rider to hold her wheel. Cooke is off the front - she is pounding a huge gear! 1 1/2 miles to go! Cooke is flying! Impressive!

Five women chasing, Bessette, Grain, two T-Mobiles.... waiting for the other rider. If Nicole can hold off through the corner she has it! Kristen Armstrong is jumping out of the chase group - Bessette on her wheel! Charging down the final straight! Nicole throws her hands in the air! NICOLE COOKE DOES IT! SHE WINS!

I am seriously wondering about the announced result because the last we saw of Tina she was leading a chase group, but if she pulled it off after crashing on Fillmore on the second lap WOW!

I believe this result means that Victory Brewing's Gina Grain has won the overall Pro Cycling Tour competition!

It's confirmed! Genesis Scuba's Tina Pic has taken 2nd! She pulled an absolutely awe-inspiring ride out of the hat today! Amazing, after crashing hard on Fillmore and then hammering at the front of the chase group to regain the leaders Tina still had enough energy left to power past them in the final straightaway! Way to go, girl! This race totally ROCKED!

Welsh Wonder Nicole Cooke and her teammate Modesto Vzesniauskaite (and you wondered why I abbreviated it throughout the report?) were incredible. Modesta is a 21 year old rider who last year won the Jeunes Giro d'Italia Femminile. I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more about Modesta in the future!

Talking to Victory Brewing racer Gina Grain to congratulate her on her overall victory in the Pro Cycling Tour. "Oh, thank you so much but I really feel like it's more that the team won! We worked hard all year, and Mike [Victory Brewing's director] has been adamant about the team focusing our efforts on key events, like Philly and San Fran, instead of scattering our energy throughout the season." When asked about hanging in the lead group all day Gina said "You know, it was unbelievable! Here I was hanging with Cooke and Bessette on the climbs! I was thinking, I am NOT going to get dropped. I felt really strong today. I'm just really pleased, we're going to be celebrating tonight!"

Now it's time for the men to take the streetcar named Desire through the streets of San Francisco!